Jake and I left home for the Frenchman Creek Trailhead at 04:15. On the way up Pleasant Park Road toward Conifer we saw a small mule deer, then on 285 before Bailey a huge bull elk stood in the northbound lane. My first thought was that it was a moose because it looked so big, but then I saw its rack and recognized it as an elk. We arrived at the 2WD trailhead for Frenchman Creek and started up the 4X4 road. After 2.2 miles of rough, steep, rocky road, we parked off the road and I got my gear ready. It was cold, maybe 25F, and the light of the sun was just peeking up in the east. No other vehicles were at the trailhead. At 06:45 we started up the trail past the wilderness boundary.

The trail was good, not too steep, and before too long we emerged from the trees and into the basin. Above treeline the trail became less distinct, but the terrain was easy and the route was apparent. We worked our way up the north side of the basin toward Harvard, missing the trail that leads to the saddle between Harvard and Point 13242. It didn't matter that we missed the trail because the route to Harvard looked easy enough, and we just climbed the grassy slope to the ridge. I saw about 6 deer in the basin, which seemed unusual at this elevation.

We started up the ridge toward Harvard's summit, which we couldn't see from our vantage point. Before the first steep part of the ridge, I ditched my trekking poles, intending to pick them up on the return trip. The first high point involved some class 3 scrambling and turned out to be a false summit. In fact, several false summits lie between where we were and the true summit. We downclimbed the summit to get back on the ridge, and I had to help Jake in a few spots because it was so steep. Back on the ridge, we continued along until we finally reached the summit at 10:45. I saw no register or benchmark, but we were definitely on the highest point of the ridge. My altimeter, set to 10,800' at the trailhead, read 14,670' on the summit. This was a sign of a falling barometer but the weather all around still looked good.

Foto ©2001 by John C. Maki

At 11:00 we left the summit and headed back down the ridge. This time I found the trail that bypasses that first false summit on the south, and I considered the traverse to Columbia. We would have to drop down below the Rabbit Ridge to about 12,800', traverse across to Columbia's north slopes, then climb to 14,073' to reach the summit. I had brought 3 quarts of water with me and had already consumed 2 on the Harvard climb. I was thinking it might be wise to skip the traverse, but would leave it open until I reached the decision point. I looked for my trekking poles where I thought I left them, and found no sign of them. I could have made note of the elevation or even might have taken a digital picture of the location to make it easier to find them on the descent, but I didn't think it would be a problem. I thought I might have left them farther down the ridge, and kept descending. When I reached the last likely spot I scanned the area, but could not find my poles. I decided to abandon them, since I didn't feel like climbing back up the ridge and I wanted to make the traverse to Columbia. Jake and I started down to the 12,800' elevation, and eyed the traverse. It looked like a rough talus scramble but nothing too difficult. However, the water situation didn't look good. I drank a little water and gave Jake a few good drinks, and then we were left with 1/2 quart. This was obviously not going to cut it so I gave up on Columbia and started down the basin to meet the trail.

Foto ©2001 by John C. Maki

I saw a coyote loping along above us, and watched it for a while before losing track of it. Another unusual wildlife sighting, I thought, to see a coyote at 12,500' or so. It seemed easier to get down in the basin and cross a willow swamp than to climb back up to where the trail was, since the swamp was mostly dry and there appeared to be several good trails through it. I found this to be true, but there was one spot where I stepped on some moss and found that it covered about 8" of water, and both my boots filled with water - stinky swamp water. I continued along and met up with a trail that joined the trail I took on the way up, and I squished down toward treeline. Below treeline I stopped to rest on a log and Jake wandered around. Shortly he came back to me looking happy, carrying a stick - wait, this stick was hairy! It was a chunk of deer leg about a foot long. He proudly carried it down the trail for about 15 minutes before dropping it. Good thing, I would have had to disappoint him by making him leave it before we drove off.

We reached the Jeep at 12:50. My altimeter read 10,600' instead of the 10,800' I expected, which accounted for the 200' of discrepancy I found at the summit. I think the trailhead might have been moved down, because there are actually two wilderness closing signs along the trail, one near the trail register and the other several hundred yards above it. An uneventful drive back down the 4X4 road, a short drive down a dirt road, and we were back on 24 headed to Buena Vista. I saw no humans on the entire hike, except for some people on horses at the trailhead on the return.

This was a nice hike, even though I lost my trekking poles, didn't make Columbia, and got two soakers. I only have Oxford and Columbia to complete the Sawatch Range, and I'd like to knock them off before the end of the year. I'm thinking about a backpack trip up Pine Creek in a couple weeks, and maybe I can get them both and retrieve my trekking poles...